Division III Men

Club Holdovers Lead John Carroll

Using four holdovers from its
club program, including sophomore Jack MacLean (above), John
Carroll has raced out to a 9-1 record heading into a big OAC
showdown with Otterbein this week. (John Carroll
Athletics)

The players saw Brian Small.

While John Carroll was playing its final season of club ball in
the MCLA last year, there weren't a whole lot of fans at the games,
so it was easy to find Small, who had been hired as the school's
first varsity head coach four months earlier.

Small spent much of last spring on the recruiting trail in hopes
of filling out the program's inaugural roster in 2014 and had no
affiliation with the club program, but he always tried to carve out
time to watch them.

"There were a few times that I'd look up to the press box during
games and normally it isn't used, but you'd see him up there
silently watching," said sophomore long-stick midfielder Jack
MacLean. "He never really talked to any of us during the club
season, but we knew he was watching and assessing what he had to
work with."

"I wanted to make sure that I was performing well at the games
he was at because he made it clear that he was going to be watching
us when he got a chance," added junior close defender Kevin
Werner.

In its last club season, John Carroll won its division within
the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA) and advanced to
the conference tournament, but Small appraised the non-varsity
players with a jaundiced eye.

"I went out and evaluated the club talent that we had and tried
to figure out which guys wanted to be part of a varsity program,"
Small said. "Obviously, there is a different mentality from club to
varsity."

The Blue Streaks' MCLA outfit typically practiced twice a week
and did it with an informality that was light years away from
Small's comprehensive approach, honed through years coaching at the
Division I and III levels. So he had a chat with the club players
to let them know how he would approach their candidacy with the
varsity concern.

"I met with those guys and said, 'This is what we're doing,'"
Small said. "'This is how the schedule is going on a week-to-week
basis, these are my goals and this is what I want to do. If you
guys feel that you'd be interesting in trying to do that, I would
love to have you and see how you fit it.'"

MacLean and Werner both knew they wanted to play varsity
lacrosse, and they were joined by sophomore midfielder Patrick
Carney and senior middie Brian Jaszka. However, the contrast
between how Small ran his team and the club entity was stark.

"It's a lot more rigid and more structured, which it has to be,"
MacLean said. "Getting up early and practicing for two hours. It
was just a lot more disciplined."

The choice to embrace this new brand of lacrosse has paid off
for the four transition players and the rest of the 26-man roster,
20 of which are freshmen. The Blue Streaks have started their first
season at 9-1 with the only loss coming in double overtime to
Wooster. Playing in the CCLA – one of the better MCLA
Division II conferences – definitely gave the four holdovers
a good foundation for this inaugural campaign.

"We played against some really
good teams like Dayton and Indiana Tech, and just having that
experience definitely helped us with the transition," said junior
close defender Kevin Werner. (John Carroll Athletics)

"We played against some really good teams like Dayton and
Indiana Tech, and just having that experience definitely helped us
with the transition," Werner said.

They have contributed on the field to help John Carroll reach
its current station, but the four MCLA guys have provided a veteran
presence that Small has leaned on to break in his huge rookie
class.

"They've been a big part of it," Small said. "Not only from a
leadership standpoint, but helping the younger guys get acclimated
to John Carroll. How to go about their business from an academic
standpoint, etc. Those guys have been quite a treat to have and
we've been lucky to have them."

"It's not like we're teaching them or looking down on them,
telling them what they should do," MacLean said. "It's just guiding
them through and helping out when we can. Just being a good
teammate."

"We spend a lot of time with the freshmen, more so off the
field" added Werner. "We show them the ropes when we can; tips on
college life and how to get used to everything."

Now the Blue Streaks have to get used being a marked team on
opponent's schedules. They aren't the lovable start-up program
rolling in for an easy win, but a gritty team playing with a lot of
confidence.

"A lot of teams in Division III probably looked at us and didn't
expect much," Werner said. "Most teams make the transition from
club to varsity and don't have the success that we've had. I take a
lot of pride, and I know the team does too, in knowing that we've
done as well as we have. But we are not really surprised by the
results because we believed in our whole team from the get-go."

At this point, John Carroll is on the outside of the Pool B
picture because their strength of schedule is what one would expect
from a first-year program. If the Blue Streaks knock off Ohio
Athletic Conference rival – and 2013 NCAA tourney participant
– Otterbein this Saturday, then they'll definitely enter the
discussion.

Regardless, this has been a heady year for John Carroll, helped
by a quartet of former club players who have laid the
foundation.

"In the first year, you'd think you'd have the odds stacked
against you, but these guys come to work every day," Small said.
"They have a blue collar mentality. We all feed off each other very
well. It's been one of the best environments I've been around since
I've been playing lacrosse."